You really need to go pee but your bladder muscles aren’t reacting? It doesn’t matter how hard you concentrate, somehow it is not coming out.

During my first childbirth, a catheter had been fitted to drain any excess urine before conducting a vacuum assisted birth. It did hurt slightly, having a catheter inserted. After the birth, I had to be stitched up, which seemed to take ages. I had also lost a lot of blood when the placenta came out, so my blood pressure was low. I felt like I was bursting for the toilet and the hospital staff didn’t seem to believe me. I insisted I needed to pee, so a nurse put a bowl underneath my bum. That pee seemed to take about 20 minutes to come out. I knew I really needed to go but my body was not reacting to my needs.

The strange thing is, once I had had this initial pee, my urinary system seemed to kick into gear again and after that things went the other way and I could hardly stop the pee from coming out when my bladder started to fill.